It’s the do it all gear bag with a hell of a reputation. But is the Ogio Rig 9800 all it’s cracked up to be? Kiwi Rider and Northern Accessories hooked us up with our very own example to find out.
Key Details
Price: $429
Distributed by: Northern Accessories
Rating: Lives up to its reputation
It doesn’t matter what you‘re a road rider or a dirt fanatic, at some point in your riding career you’ll find a need to chuck all your riding gear into a bag and head off in search of adventure or pack a family’s worth of kit for your next holiday. Having a bag that can do both is definitely a plus in our books, but finding one? Now that’s the trick.
In my line of work, this is a common occurrence and as such, I need a decent gear bag capable of doing the hard yards travelling across NZ and beyond testing bikes.
After the utter destruction of my last do-it-all bag at the hands of US customs, I needed to get myself a quality bag to cart my kit about in, with Kiwi Rider Magazine’s publisher kindly organising the highly rated Ogio Rig 9800 for me through Kiwi distributor Northern Accessories.
Over the years I’ve seen plenty of my colleagues in the industry lean on the Ogio for the same purpose, so I knew it had a strong reputation backing it.
Now, previously gotten by with department store luggage, it never truly did a good job of carting my bike gear from place to place.
The biggest problem with department store bags is the shape of the bag itself. While great for backing general clothing and a toothbrush, it doesn’t translate well into cramming in a pair of boots, helmet and riding suit along with enough changes of undies to not feel vile. Things get even more interesting if you want to be able separate said undies from the rest of your kit once they get “the waft”.
Moving to the Ogio felt like I’d all of a sudden moved from a Fiat 500 to a Ford Ranger, there’s just so much space! With plenty of pockets in the lid as well as the ability to create a space just for your helmet it is versatile too.
In fact, I’ve found there is room for a full week away with the usual faff in the main pocket, plus a curious toddler will also fit in the lid pocket to boot (no toddlers were harmed in the writing of this review).
That translates to a capacity of 123 litres which is huge. The only issue is when you’re packing to head on a plane and need to keep the weight down, that extra toddler you packed on top of your riding kit and undies might just tip you over the weight limit…
Build quality is what you’d expect from a premium brand, with the Structural Load Equalising Deck (SLED) base ensuring that you can chuck this bad boy in and out of the car with no worries that the baggage handlers are going to wreck it. The Rig 1800 is built tough!
While the future of moto travel overseas looking a bit gloomy at the moment I’m still glad to have the Rig 9800 in my arsenal. Its ability to cram a heap of stuff is astounding. With our family “Zombie Apocalypse” plan seemingly closer to being enacted, I’m glad I can fit enough gear for my next escape whenever and whatever it may be.